Gender Differences in Beginning Academic Careers and Navigating Parenthood

Balancing academic training and parenthood poses unique challenges, particularly during the Ph.D. stage. Using global survey data, we reconstruct life-course trajectories of academic parents to investigate gender differences in the timing of Ph.D. completion and parenthood, and their implications for careers. We identify five distinct trajectories. Women more often prioritized Ph.D. completion before age 30 and transitioned to parenthood after 35, whereas men tended to become parents during doctoral studies, often with three or more children by age 40. Early parenthood was associated with the largest gender gaps in long-term scientific citations, favoring men; these disparities disappeared among those who became parents after age 35. Men were also more likely to secure and remain in academic positions regardless of parenthood timing. These findings highlight persistent challenges for early-career mothers and underscore the need for institutional policies to better support parenting responsibilities alongside career progression.